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Lanzarote Canary Islands

Lanzarote the realm of volcanoes and pirates

One of the seven Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa, Lanzarote is known for its year round warm weather. Its ancient buildings are a silent witness to its violent past, including the bands of pirates that repeatedly attacked and plundered the island. A six year long series of volcanic eruptions between 1730 and 1736, and a smaller one in 1824, shaped the island as it is today.

During the Spanish American war in 1898 a defense battery was built at the island's northernmost tip. It is an official national monument but when we visited the site in 2019 we found that it has been completely ignored by the tourist industry. According to some historians the Nazis used the Canary islands as a base to resupply their submarines (U-Boats) during the second world war. We were especially interested in an addition made to the site in 1940. An observation post (in German Style) was added to the complex, which makes you wonder if it has been used by the Nazis as an Atlantic communications post for their U-Boats.

Other places we visited were San Jose Castle, Torre Del Aguila, Santa Barbara Castle, San Gabriel Castle, El Lago Verde and the southern beaches of Papagayo, de la Cera and Caleta del Congrio.

Hidden WWII Bunker

A defence battery built in 1898 during the Spanish American war, it was reactivated in 1940 and expanded with an observation post. The whole complex sits right on top of the tourist attraction Mirador del Rio, but almost nobody knows it is there. Was this bunker part of a WWII communication network of the Nazis? When we visited Lanzarote in 2019 the entrances were unblocked.

To access the site you have to walk around the Mirador del Rio entrance and head towards the communication tower. The first bunker you encounter is the observation post built in 1940. When you enter the bunker you can see that the observation post was built to look out over the Atlantic ocean, past the tiny island of La Graciosa (see video). The height makes it a perfect spot for a communications tower. Add to this the rumored secret Nazi U-boat base on nearby Fuerteventura and the bunker makes sense.

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